Method and apparatus for discovering network topology
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- registering a first network device and a second network device to a policy server;
receiving network discovery policies from the policy server at the first and second network devices;
identifying the second network device at the first network device in accordance with the received policies by receiving an address of the second network device from a third network device, the third network device being different from the policy server;
sending a message from the first network device to the second network device, the message establishing the identity of any network device between the first network device and the second network device in accordance with the received policies; and
compiling the established identities to determine the topology of the network.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided that allow the automatic discovery of the topology of a network. In one embodiment, the invention includes identifying a second network device at a first network device, sending a message from the first network device to the second network device, the message establishing the identity of any network device between the first network device and the second network device, and compiling the established identities to determine the topology of the network. The invention can use PING and Traceroute utilities to find nodes and identify network devices.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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registering a first network device and a second network device to a policy server; receiving network discovery policies from the policy server at the first and second network devices; identifying the second network device at the first network device in accordance with the received policies by receiving an address of the second network device from a third network device, the third network device being different from the policy server; sending a message from the first network device to the second network device, the message establishing the identity of any network device between the first network device and the second network device in accordance with the received policies; and compiling the established identities to determine the topology of the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
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registering a first network device and a second network device to a policy server; receiving network discovery policies from the policy server at the first and second network devices; identifying the second network device at the first network device in accordance with the received policies by receiving an address of the second network device from a third network device, the third network device being different from the policy server; sending a message from the first network device to the second network device, the message establishing the identity of any network device between the first network device and the second network device in accordance with the received policies; and compiling the established identities to determine the topology of the network. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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registering a first network device and a second network device to a policy server; receiving network discovery policies from the policy server at the first and second network devices; identifying the second network device at the first network device in accordance with the received policies by receiving an address of the second network device from a third network device, the third network device being different from the policy server; sending a route tracing packet from the first network device to the second network device, to determine addresses of any network device between the first network device and the second network device in accordance with the received policies; and compiling the addresses to determine the topology of the network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification